Batman: The Dark Knight Before Christmas
by matthewb4coates
Summary: The day of Christmas Eve proves to be busy and chaotic for Batman. In the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, Batman is called into action to stop a robbery-in-progress being orchestrated by Mr. Freeze. Later that night, Bruce Wayne has the Wayne Foundation's annual Christmas Charity Gala to host at Wayne Tower which is then interrupted by the criminal Firefly.
1. Part 1: The First Freeze of Gotham

Batman: The Dark Knight Before Christmas

 **Part 1: The First Freeze of Winter** _**By Matthew B. Coates**_

All was calm, and all was bright throughout the streets of the metropolis spread out below. However, this is rarely the case for a city such as Gotham, which in recent decades has become more familiar than most with the late-night echoes of criminal activity, police sirens, and speeding ambulances running throughout the city. Yet on this night, as the Batman is perched upon his stone gargoyle looking down on the city he's sworn to protect – all that can be heard is the light gust of wind carrying the first flakes of snow into Gotham.

Motionless, he crouches waiting for the first sign of trouble so that he may take his instinctive leap and run towards the danger, as he does night in and night out. This was often the hardest part of the night – the waiting… The combination of hope that Gotham may actually have one full quiet night to rest, along with the anticipation that if his focus drifts away, even in the slightest, it may give his enemies an edge that he can't afford to lose. Luckily for the Batman, he was raised as Bruce Wayne – son to renowned doctor Thomas Wayne. Growing up, Bruce learned early on the values of patience and focus as his father would teach him basic medical terminology and healing practices. To many kids this would sound a boring and tedious task, but to Bruce it meant everything in the world; while Bruce wasn't sure if he wanted to grow up to be a doctor, he did know that he wanted to find some way to help people when he grew up – just like his father. And just as the Batman's focus was starting to slip upon these memories of his father, he was awakened by the sound from the old Gotham Clock Tower as its bells began to chime across the city. Just as the clock tower finished its twelfth ring, noise was once again brought back into the night as the bells' echoes filled the night over the red and green trimmed streets of Gotham below.

"Well sir, it's now after midnight – shall I be the first to wish you a merry Christmas Eve? Or has one of our late-night perps already beaten me to the punch?" piped up the familiar voice of Alfred Pennyworth from the radio in Batman's ear.

"Nothing yet, Alfred. It's been a silent night thus far, but I'm not counting Gotham's luck until morning," said Batman regaining his focus as he peered across the city.

"Might I remind you sir, that even criminals take off the night to enjoy the holidays from time to time. Perhaps you might think to do the same; call it an early night to get some rest before the Wayne Foundation Christmas event tomorrow night," said Alfred.

"Only a few more hours until sunrise -" Batman began, just before he was interrupted by a direct transmission on his wrist gauntlet from the Batcomputer. "Looks like I'll be busy tonight after all, Alfred – there was a break-in at the new Johns & Huffam Laboratory," continued Batman. "Looks like the alarm sent out a short distress call, but was immediately deactivated – I'm going to check it out now."

And within an instant, Batman leaped down from his observation post to descend upon the city below with his cape rattling in the wind behind him as he fell. Once at a sufficient velocity, he jolted his arms out from his body, grasping the edges of his cape, and propelled back upward as he progressed into a glide over the streets of Gotham. This…this was the moment that he lived for – the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins as he flew above the streets of the city that he treasured. In this moment, he felt at one with the city as if he could see all the citizens that he fought for like the guardian in the night that he strived to be. Beginning to lose altitude, Batman reached to his utility belt for his Grappling Gun and shot towards the top of the buildings to his right in order rise himself back high into the air before he dipped down too close to the Christmas lights of the streets. For several more blocks, Batman progressed to grapple and glide between buildings and above the streets until he finally approached the laboratory; at which point, he quickly climbed to the top of the nearby water tower for the best vantage point of the building's shipping docks below.

Standing tall upon the water tower, Batman suddenly started to feel the cold settle in as Gotham's first freeze of the year reached its darkest hour in the middle of the night. He observed the scene below through the slight cloud that arose from his own warm breath, exposed through the opening in his cowl. Initially, nothing looked too out of the ordinary for a midnight caper in Gotham – two empty vans parked by the shipping dock with no security guards in sight. In order to get a closer look at the scene, Batman then shot his Grapple Gun across the street to the top of the lab and swung down to the ground – landing in a rollout which placed him precisely at the back doors of the farthest van from the lab entrance. He listened quietly for a few seconds and still heard no sound – clearly these criminals weren't intelligent enough to leave a lookout outside… Peering around the corner, Batman spotted his first clue as the other van seemed to show several modifications with extra pipes and exhausts underneath it. Batman slowly progressed towards the van and examined the modifications to be some sort of extensive cooling system, meant to keep all cargo in the back of the van at sub-zero temperatures.

"Alfred - can you run a search on Johns & Huffam Lab to see what research they are currently working on?" asked Batman over his radio.

In a matter of seconds, Alfred's voice responded over the radio, "The lab's primary area of research is synthetic pharmaceuticals, and they were recently awarded the esteemed Belle research grant for their work in combating degenerative illnesses."

"Hmm… it may be possible that some of the compounds they are working with would require cold storage," stated Batman, "but that doesn't explain why only one of the vans would have the cooling system."

Following this quick exchange, Batman continued towards the large bay doors of the docks until he could begin to hear the murmurs coming from the other side. To investigate this disturbance further, Batman then launched his Grapple Gun yet again to the top of the building and ascended upwards until he reached the roof. Before fully climbing his way to the roof, Batman glanced over the ledge to confirm again that the criminals had missed another critical lookout position. Batman made his way towards the skylights of the laboratory, and looked down through the fogged windows to make out the shape of four shadows patrolling the lab's open layout interior. Batman discretely opened one of the skylight windows and entered the ceiling rafters of the lab, so that he could now hear the words being murmured by the patrolling shadows below.

"This is ridiculous; we couldn't have picked any other night to pull this job?" said an irritated voice below.

"Maybe you should speak up then – share a piece of your mind with the boss," said another voice, whose tone was beginning to show a sense of mild annoyance.

"You kidding?!" exclaimed the first voice in a loud whisper. "Did you see what he did to that security guard? The man was terrified; probably still frozen in that tiny closet!"

"Unless you wanna join him, then I recommend you keep your mouth shut," said the second voice calmly.

"How about you all shut up," commanded a third voice in an authoritative voice. "Think I might have heard something, and we don't want to let the boss get interrupted while he's getting the data we came for."

"Wait a minute…you don't think it's the Batman do you?!" said the first voice with a hint of fear. At that same moment in the shadows of the rafters above, a slight smirk began to emerge on Batman's face as he could already sense that fear had begun to enter the room below. Early in his crimefighting days, Batman had learned how valuable a tool that fear could be – that it was effectively a virus, that once it had made its way into the atmosphere, it continued to spread until all those around had become infected and weak.

"Can't have been the Batman; he's one of the 'good guys' – all the good guys are home with their families tonight," casually remarked a fourth voice from across the lab. "Why do you think the boss, chose tonight? No Batman, and he knew security would be light."

"Jacob – what are you doing?!" barked the third voice from the lofted stairway above, "You were supposed to be the lookout outside!"

"Relax…just came in to use the bathroom – on my way back out there now," said the fourth voice calmly.

"Better hurry it up then, or else you'll have to answer to Freeze yourself if things go south," directed the third voice.

With that last statement, Batman had heard all he needed to in order to confirm his theory that Mr. Freeze (a.k.a. Victor Fries) was behind this. Everything added up: the cooling system on the lone van for his personal transport, breaking into a lab to steal research on degenerative illnesses (such as the one that cursed his dear Nora), the security guard "frozen with fear" in the closet, and the subtle fact that Batman did not start to truly notice the cold temperatures until he had gotten close to the lab as if Mr. Freeze had left some sort of cold trail which effected the surrounding environment. Having gained all the necessary intel, Batman now set about developing his plan of attack on the enemies below. From previous encounters with Mr. Freeze, Batman had already calculated that the security guard had maybe 15 minutes before the affects of Mr. Freeze's Cold Gun would become fatal – so he knew he would have to move fast.

"Alfred, Mr. Freeze is behind the robbery – he's looking for research that may assist him with the cure for his wife," stated Batman quietly into his radio. "It appears on the way in, that he has frozen the security guard and trapped him in a closet – put in a call with the GCPD and request that they bring emergency medical help immediately. I'll begin to move in now."

"I've sent out the distress call to GCPD," replied Alfred after a slight pause. "Judging by the radio chatter I'm picking up, I expect they should arrive in about 10 minutes."

"Plenty of time," sneered Batman as he began to make his way across the rafters towards the fourth guard who was heading alone towards the docking bay doors. Just as the guard reached for the door handle, Batman swooped down from the rafters in a silent burst of speed and grappled the guard into a headlock. The guard put up a short struggle, but Batman's armlock around the neck was just strong enough to prevent him from shouting for help before he passed out in a matter of seconds. Batman then continued to move along shadows on the edge of the lab towards the lofted walkway, where the third (and likely most lethal) guard was pacing with his assault rifle in hand. From observing the posture of the guard, Batman speedily deduced that he had a very poor back and that the approximate 15-foot fall from the walkway would be sufficient to take him down for the count. While remaining in the shadows, Batman had a perfect angle to launch a Batarang with enough force to make the fall - however, the fall would surely be loud enough to attract the attention of the remaining two guards… Unfortunately, time was of the essence so Batman decided that the tradeoff between time and stealth was necessary to bring this fight to a halt in time to get the guard the medical attention he needed. With that thought in mind, Batman reached from his utility belt and threw a Batarang with a high velocity which struck the guard right in the back of the head. The force of the blow worked as intended, as the guard momentarily stumbled before tipping over the railing and falling onto a lab station below – from Batman's analysis, likely 2 broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and countless bruises. The noise of the fall was clearly heard by the remaining two guards, who swiftly turned back-to-back in a defensive formation with their guns at the ready.

"George! You alright?" called out one of the remaining guards.

"Forget him, kid," said the other guard, "looks like we got our own problem to deal with – clearly, we aren't alone here."

"Jacob!" shouted the younger guard in a panic over his radio. "I think we got a situation in here – fall back in!" The silence echoed throughout the lab, as no response was given.

"So that's two down, and barely a sound has been made…" said the calmer, more experienced guard, "looks like you got your Christmas wish – the Batman made it out tonight after all."

"Oh sh*t, oh sh*t, oh sh*t" rattled the young guard under his breath.

"Boss, we got trouble – got to get a move on!" called out the other guard across the lab.

"Just wrapping up, I'll be joining you momentarily," echoed a strong, deep voice from the office in the corner.

During the slight pause in action, Batman had once again ascended back up into the rafters and watched from above as the two guards continued back-to-back, turning left-to-right as they tried to stand guard and remain alert for any sign of movement around them. Batman once again reached into his utility belt and pulled out a handful of smoke pellets in order to make the distraction for his final assault. He threw the pellets towards the ground in the general area of the guards and just when the smoke started to rise, Batman then jumped down into the artificial fog. The young guard looked up into the rafters and began firing his rifle rapidly and carelessly at the large bat-shaped shadow that was descending upon him. Easily dodging the spray of misguided bullets, Batman landed between the two guards and immediately executed a leg sweep to knock both of them down to the floor. The more experienced guard reached out his hand to try to grab his gun, but Batman grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him back a few feet from it and stomped on his hand – thus ensuring that even if he were to reach the gun later, he certainly would not be able to pull the trigger. Refusing to concede just yet, the guard began to slowly crawl back on his feet and made a run at Batman hoping to catch him off-guard with this last act of fearlessness. Focused and prepared for the retaliatory attack, Batman sidestepped the running tackle effortlessly and swung a swift elbow to the back of the guard's head to finish him off in quick fashion. Knowing that the other young guard was still not incapacitated, Batman turned around to face his next foe but was instead met with a surprise – the guard was down on his knees, holding his gun up to Batman like an offering.

"I surrender…please, just let me go home – it's Christmas Eve, can you please just let me go home," the young guard pleaded. For a slight moment, Batman was actually moved – this was just another one of the kids from the Narrows, pulled into the criminal underworld in order to make any money he could to survive. Just as Batman was about to speak to the troubled youth, he was interrupted by the loud clanking of metallic boots and a rapid flurry of cold, wind, and ice.

"You really can't find good help anymore – especially around the holidays," said Mr. Freeze coldly as he approached the newly created ice sculpture that was the young guard. "Quite pathetic really; turned over like a coward at the first sign of trouble."

"You didn't need to do that Freeze, he was just a kid…a kid that you shouldn't have even pulled into this mess in the first place," said Batman through his gritted teeth.

"True, but he insisted," stated Mr. Freeze matter-of-factly. "You know kids, these days – always in a rush to prove themselves. And quite frankly, all the normal hired guns were busy tonight and I needed the extra manpower; couldn't skip an opportunity like tonight."

The two opponents stood approximately 10 feet apart, carefully watching the other – waiting to see who would make the first move. Again, Batman began to observe the way in which Mr. Freeze's suit and Cold Gun had impacted the atmosphere as the air grew colder and ice was beginning to form across the lab floor. Already being pressed for time to ensure the Cold Gun victims would be able get their required medical attention, Batman also understood that he would have to end the fight fast before his muscles began to tense up and slow him down. At that moment, Batman then launched himself into a full charge at Mr. Freeze in an attempt to knock him off his feet; however, in this case, it was Mr. Freeze who was prepared as he quickly drew his Cold Gun and hit Batman with an icy blast on his shoulder. Thrown off balance by the hit that he had taken, Batman began to lose footing on the slick floor and stumbled right into the fist of Mr. Freeze which knocked him back into several stacked boxes of medical supplies. The first mistake of the night – even in a rushed encounter, Batman knew he should have shown more patience than that.

Shaking off the debris, Batman stood back to his feet and stared down his opponent to analyze what weakness he should attempt to capitalize on. Mr. Freeze had made some updates to his cryogenic suit since their previous encounter, thus taking out the possibility of exploiting the same weaknesses as Batman as has done before. As Batman was analyzing, Mr. Freeze fired another blast from his Cold Gun but this time Batman was ready as he shifted out of the way by rolling behind another nearby stack of medical supplies. While crouching, he could hear the metallic boots reverberating echoes throughout the lab as Mr. Freeze was advancing towards him. Once Batman heard his footsteps reaching within 3 feet of him, he threw another handful of smoke pellets on the ground to provide cover as he used his other hand to shoot his Grapple Gun and ascend back up into the rafters to gather more time for a strategy.

Knowing that Mr. Freeze's suit allowed for thermal tracking capabilities, Batman understood that this smoke tactic would only buy him a few extra seconds – but that was all the time he would need. Observing the scene below as Mr. Freeze was regaining his sense of orientation, Batman noticed a small exhaust port on the back shoulder of Mr. Freeze's suit – dispensing some of the cold CO2 emissions from his helmet, thus explaining the suit's new freezing effect on the nearby atmosphere. If Batman were to cut off this exhaust port's access to the air, then this would compromise Mr. Freeze's ability to breath.

Having developed his new plan of attack, Batman once again dropped to the ground just behind Mr. Freeze and discretely covered the exhaust port with an adhesive gel from his utility belt. In the time it took for Batman to apply the adhesive seal, Mr. Freeze had turned around to launch another armored fist into Batman's gut which sent him rolling backward several feet. With the adhesive applied, Batman now had to keep Mr. Freeze moving – the more he breathed, the quicker the CO2 exposure would knock him out. Batman took off in a sprint along the edge of the lab as Mr. Freeze dispersed several blasts from his Cold Gun in a spinning flurry as he tried to catch the speeding opponent in the shadows. Some shots came close, but after a few moments they became much further from their target as Mr. Freeze was starting to feel the disorientation from the excess CO2. At the first sign of a cough, Batman then launched his Grapple Gun to the rafters and swung into Mr. Freeze with a flying kick which sent him across the lab floor. Batman approached the now unconscious Mr. Freeze and thrust a Batarang into the glass of the helmet in order to create a small opening for the CO2 to exit the suit once again.

Completing his mission and stopping the break-in, Batman turned his attention towards finding the closet in which the frozen security guard was being held. In near perfect timing, Batman had found the guard in the utility closet at the north-end of the lab just as the GCPD were storming into the building. Leading the charge of police officers was none other than the GCPD Commissioner, Jim Gordon. Batman met with his old friend and ally to disclose the details of the break-in, before he took off once again into the night to see what else the city of Gotham had to offer up for the night.

Compared to the encounter with Mr. Freeze at Johns & Huffam Lab, the rest of the night turned out to be quite uneventful with only 2 carjacking attempts before Batman returned home to Wayne Manor sometime between three and four o'clock in the morning. Changing out of his Batsuit and once again taking on the civilian identity of Bruce Wayne, he exited the Batcave through the manor's study to go to his bedroom for his limited allowance of sleep prior to early morning training. However, before Bruce could make it out of his study, his eye caught a glimpse of the family portrait of himself with his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. His mind started to reminisce upon the too few Christmases that they had shared together, and how much he had missed them both – most of all during this time of the year… Unsure of how long he had been lost in thought, Bruce was awakened to reality as his friend and butler, Alfred, had entered the room.

"The holidays are a time for family, Master Bruce," said Alfred fondly as he gazed up at the portrait. "Having served this wonderful family for many years, I can assure you that I miss them very much as well."

"They had given so much to this city – just a shame they aren't here for the time of year when all of Gotham shares belief in that same sense of generosity and hope," observed Bruce sullenly.

"And that generosity they showed towards Gotham still continues to this day, sir," stated Alfred. "After all, it was your father who used the Wayne Foundation to start the annual Christmas Charity Gala which will take place tomorrow evening. As you'll be hosting, might I suggest that you get some rest before the imminent sunrise?"

Bruce nodded in agreement and made his way up to his bedroom to adjourn for the night. Walking into the room, Bruce put out the fireplace which Alfred had lit earlier in the evening to warm the room. Crawling into bed, Bruce then dozed off into a pleasant sleep as he dreamt about the last Christmas he spent with his parents as they put up their tree together as a family.


	2. Part 2: Lighting of the Christmas Tree

Batman: The Dark Knight Before Christmas

 **Part 2: The Lighting of the Christmas Tree** _**By Matthew B. Coates**_

The sun had just risen over the horizon, as the citizens of Gotham began to stir during the early morning of Christmas Eve. It was approximately seven o'clock in the morning when Alfred Pennyworth finished preparing a holiday breakfast at Wayne Manor. Alfred had called out to the manor's owner, Bruce Wayne, to inform him that the food was prepared and after a few moments was surprised to hear a response of nothing but silence. Alfred was well-aware that Bruce was known to have a strict, morning exercise routine (to ensure he was in peak physical condition for his late-night vigilante activities as Batman), but even if Bruce had skipped breakfast for a workout, then surely Alfred would have heard noise from the upstairs training room. Puzzled by this rare occurrence, Alfred exited the kitchen to investigate the whereabouts of Bruce. Searching throughout the manor, Alfred had no luck in finding Bruce in the training room, his bedroom, the study, the Batcave (beneath Wayne Manor), or anywhere for that matter. Giving up on this pursuit, Alfred began to make his way back to the kitchen but was interrupted when he had now seen Bruce, who was just walking in through the back-patio door wearing his running hoodie and sweatpants.

"Good morning, Alfred – merry Christmas Eve." said Bruce with a warm smile.

"And a merry Christmas Eve to you as well, Master Bruce," replied Alfred cheerfully. "I have prepared a special holiday breakfast, which is ready to be served in the kitchen whenever you're hungry."

"Thank you, Alfred – could really use something to eat after the morning run," said Bruce as he entered the kitchen. Before Alfred joined him, he then looked out the window of the back-patio door towards the snow-covered grounds of Wayne Manor. Off in the near distance, Alfred could see the small Wayne family mausoleum where Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne were buried. In his short glance, Alfred quickly noticed the only footprints in the snow led towards the mausoleum where a new Christmas wreath had just been hung.

The rest of the morning went by fairly quietly for the two old friends. Over breakfast, the two reminisced of the many Christmas Eves that have past in the house of Wayne. The earliest years were the most cheerful, as Bruce's mother would always bake her classic gingerbread cookies and his father would dress as Santa Claus while he placed the last-minute Christmas gifts under the tree. The more recent years were much quieter as the house seemed more empty, but was still decorated to some extent with Christmas trees and ornaments by Alfred as he tried to reinvigorate the house once again with holiday spirit.

Following the holiday breakfast, Bruce excused himself from the kitchen table and adjourned to the study. Passing by his father's old desk, he approached an old grandfather clock that had been in the family for many generations. After putting his finger on a hidden DNA scanner, the grandfather clock opened up and revealed an entrance to the Batcave from which Bruce based his vigilante activities out of. He made his way down the rock steps in the cave, which felt only slightly warmer than the freezing temperatures outside until he reached the Batcomputer where he then sat down and followed up on some leads in his current investigations. After a few hours of research, Bruce then spent the rest of the afternoon exercising in the Batcave's training center until he was interrupted by the return of his friend Alfred.

"Hello, sir – just thought I might remind you that you only have about 2 hours until the Wayne Foundation's annual Christmas Charity Gala," stated Alfred as he entered the room.

"I hadn't forgotten Alfred; was just about to go upstairs and get ready myself," observed Bruce wiping the sweat from his brow with a towel.

"Excellent; I just placed your recently pressed suit in your bedroom and will prepare the car for our departure shortly," said Alfred.

Once Alfred had left, Bruce exited the Batcave and went upstairs to his master bedroom so he could prepare for the charity gala. It did not take long for Bruce to shower, shave, and put on his new suit as he was a man who was used to being in a hurry due to his busy schedule. He then returned back downstairs to the main entrance hall of Wayne Manor to meet with Alfred, and the two got in Bruce's newest luxury sedan and left for downtown Gotham.

This year, the Christmas Charity Gala was being hosted at Wayne Tower where a large ballroom on the first floor had been fully decorated in Christmas apparel over the last several weeks in preparation. Being the 25th anniversary of the annual holiday event that Bruce's father had founded, it seemed only appropriate that a Wayne should host the event and there was no better venue in downtown for the occasion than Wayne Tower. The gala was the pinnacle event of the holiday season in Gotham and attracted the majority of Gotham's elite. Admittedly, Bruce had grown somewhat tired of the event over the years as it had become more an entertainment spectacle than a humanitarian gathering since the passing of his parents over a decade ago; however, the event was still able to raise significant funds needed for St. Switins Orphanage, so he continued the Wayne Foundation's involvement.

Despite it being Christmas Eve, the streets of Gotham were quite crowded as desperate parents scavenged the few open shops for last-minute gifts and vehicles full of families were leaving their homes to attend holiday gatherings throughout the city. In addition to the flood of Gotham citizens, the city seemed all the more crowded due to the wealth of holiday decorations lining the streets as bright, blinking lights lit up the typically dark and cold sidewalks and alleyways of the outer parts of downtown. Gazing out the backseat windows as Alfred drove them towards Gotham Square, Bruce caught a glimpse of the Johns & Huffam Laboratory where he had thwarted a break-in attempt by Mr. Freeze just the previous night. With nothing better to do, he began to playback the encounter in his mind as he analyzed his performance for anything that could be improved. Lost in thought for several minutes, Bruce was shaken back to reality as the car had finally arrived in front of Wayne Tower.

Exiting the car, Bruce walked by the 75-foot Christmas tree that had been set up outside specifically for the event and admired it briefly before he entered the building. Having arrived an hour early for the gala, Bruce first met with the primary event coordinator, Cindy, to ensure that everything was set up properly for the evening's activities. Luckily, Bruce had just been informed that there were no complications and that all aspects of the gala were ready and accounted for. As their conversation concluded, Bruce was greeted with a handshake by his old friend Lucius Fox, who was the head of Research and Development at Wayne Enterprises.

"Lucius, it's excellent to see you made it out for the gala – although I think you may have gotten here a little early," Bruce said as he looked down at his watch.

"Actually, Bruce, I'm here working late tonight," said Lucius with a mild chuckle. "Just came downstairs for a walk while the latest prototype suit is being finished – should be ready any minute now. It's something you might be interested in…you know, for your next spelunking adventure."

"I'm sure I'll be impressed," said Bruce with a sly smile. "Well, when you finish up – feel free to join us for the gala. Guests should start arriving at eight and we'll start with a tree lighting ceremony at nine, a short speech, and free food for the rest of the night."

After exchanging a few other pleasantries, Lucius exited the ballroom and returned to the Research and Development office upstairs. Not long after this departure, guests began to arrive in slow spurts until the entire ballroom and lobby had become filled with life. Most of the guests were dressed in their proper suits and dresses, naturally designer-made; but a slight few had chosen to adorn themselves with small festive accessories such as snowflake pendants and Santa hats. With the room now full of its high society guests, the small orchestra started to play their music as the sounds of Christmas songs began to fill the air. As the host, Bruce had been making his way around the room for his obligatory greetings to the guests when he suddenly felt a familiar small hand grasp around his shoulder. Turning around, Bruce instantly recognized the slender woman with shoulder-length black hair and jade green eyes.

"Selena, why am I not surprised to see you here?" stated Bruce matter-of-factly.

"Well, Christmas is the time to spend with those you care about and as I haven't seen you lately, this seemed as good an opportunity as any," replied Selina Kyle coolly.

"This is a charity event and the people here will be providing much needed funds to St. Switins – so could you do me a favor and not steal from them until _after_ the gala," said Bruce with a stern demeanor.

"I never said I was here to steal from anyone – maybe all I wanted was just a dance," said Selina coyly as she extended her hand out towards Bruce.

With a short pause, Bruce took Selina's hand and led her to the main dance floor. The lights above provided a dim white glow as the two danced slowly to the soft beat of the holiday classic being played to perfection by the live orchestra. It was true that the couple had shared a deep connection over recent times, but due to Selina's criminal activities as Catwoman, the two could never reconcile their differences into a real relationship – making moments like this few and far between. At the conclusion of the song, it was now time for Bruce's speech so he said a short goodbye to Selina, walked towards the stage at the center of the ballroom, and grabbed the microphone.

"Good evening everyone – merry Christmas and thank you all for coming," began Bruce. "This year marks the 25th anniversary of Gotham's annual Christmas Charity Gala – an event that my father, Thomas Wayne, had started through the Wayne Foundation. My father was a very generous man who greatly loved this city and firmly believed in the holiday values of giving and helping your fellow man. It was for these reasons that he worked hard to first organize this gala all those years ago, and why he continued that dedication for the rest of his life to make this the holiday event of the season and the most successful fundraiser of the year. I gladly thank you for your donations that you have provided this evening, and would like to continue this year's event with the annual lighting of Gotham's largest Christmas tree."

Bruce gestured his hand out towards the large glass windows at the back of the ballroom towards the 75-foot tree standing just outside by the main entrance to the tower. The tree had yet to be lit, as the tree had just arrived specifically for this event and was decorated last week – the tree-lighting ceremony was an annual tradition that the event had become known for over the years. All of the guests in the ballroom turned around and watched out the window with anticipation of the shimmering lights soon to come. Standing adjacent to the window, the event coordinator, Cindy, flicked the switch in her hand and the tree's lights burst into a festive glow. The guests all raised their drink glasses and applauded the occasion with true holiday cheer. Just as Bruce was stepping down from the stage, there was then a large burst of fire outside that completely engulfed the recently-lit tree. The crowd quickly began to scramble in a panic for the nearest exits as a flying figure then descended from the sky in front of the back windows.

"Merry Christmas, Gotham!" shouted the metallic voice. "So glad that you could all make it to tonight's event – it made it so easy to gather all of Gotham's elite in one place!"

As the figure moved closer to the windows, and out of the smoke, Bruce immediately recognized him as Firefly. Firefly was a constant nuisance in Gotham who used his own custom-made suit, jetpack, and flamethrower to wreak havoc in the city – mostly known for arson and burglary charges. As Batman, Bruce had previously had Firefly locked up in Arkham Asylum a few months ago but evidently, he had escaped just in time for Christmas.

"Every year, you hold this pathetic little event where Gotham's richest and most powerful come to celebrate and 'give back' to their city!" continued Firefly from outside, while he raised his flamethrower to the window. "364 days a year you take and take from Gotham, and 1 day you choose to give back so little what you have taken – well this year, I'm taking everything you have and I'm turning it to coal and ash!"

Firefly then shot a continuous flame into the thick, bullet-proof windows of Wayne Tower which slowly began to melt under the intense heat. Wasting no time, Bruce had already rushed through the crowd and made his way towards the main lobby elevators. Once inside, he entered his emergency code into the keypad below the floor buttons and the elevator zoomed upwards to the Research and Development wing. Exiting the elevator, Bruce was instantly greeted by Lucius Fox.

"I could see the smoke rising from up here, the new prototype suit has just been finished and is ready to go," stated Lucius.

"Thanks Lucius; anything new I need to know about right now?" inquired Bruce.

Lucius then gave Bruce a brief run-through of this Batsuit's latest modifications, as Bruce changed hurriedly in the adjacent room. Emerging from the room, Bruce had now taken on the suit and identity of vigilante hero, Batman. Walking swiftly through the hangar, Batman approached the largest glass window that looked out over Gotham from many stories above. He turned back to face Lucius and gave an assertive nod, as Lucius then flicked the switch on the nearby wall. The glass window slowly began to rise and cold air hurriedly filled into the warm hangar, brushing papers off desks and ruffling tarps covering Lucius' other current projects. As the ceiling-to-ceiling window had fully opened up, Batman rushed headfirst and leaped heroically outside into the night – falling downwards through the rising smoke and battling the raging winds. At approximately 30 stories to the ground, Batman pressed his finger against the trigger upon his left forearm gauntlet. A set of mechanical wings then extended from his shoulders and reached out to be just longer than his arms. In mere moments, several small engines opened up from the bottom of the wings and created just enough force for Batman to tilt back upright and hover in mid-air. Having quickly gained control of Lucius' latest jetpack design on the Batsuit, Batman then flew downwards to approach his latest foe, Firefly. Firefly had just finished melted through the window when he looked up and saw the Batman bursting through the cloud of smoke that his fire had created.

"I see you made it out of Arkham again," calmly stated Batman as he descended to be face-to-face with Firefly a few feet off the ground.

"Good to see you too, Batman," said Firefly with a tone of confidence. "Just thought I'd stop by and assist with the Christmas tree lighting ceremony – figured it would really _fire_ up the party."

"Enough with the small talk Firefly – who hired you for this job?" questioned Batman. "Surely, an arsonist like yourself has no real interest in the class struggles of Gotham."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong Batman," began Firefly, "this was a plan of my own design. Gotham's rich and powerful feed off all the lowly citizens of this city, then justify their wealth by having their small little charity galas… This will stand no more; for tonight, I will burn them and everything they have to the ground."

Firefly then dipped down and shot off into the newly opened window – without hesitation, Batman followed in pursuit. By now, the majority of guests had flooded out of the ballroom and into the main lobby, afraid to move for the front exit while Firefly was outside. With the room now being nearly empty, Firefly first set ablaze the center stage and Christmas decorations surrounding it. Having set a sufficient flame to begin spreading throughout the room, Firefly turned toward the lobby entranceway but was instantly pulled back to the ground by the hook from Batman's Grapple Gun, which was twisting around his ankle. Furious, Firefly angled his flamethrower and burned the rope to separate the hook from the gun. Batman flew at the recently grounded Firefly and in mid-route, threw some pellets from his utility belt into the flames of the ballroom stage. Once the pellets hit the flames, puffs of chemical gel burst and began to mask the flames as they slowly died down. Firefly now aimed his flamethrower at the rapidly approaching Batman and fired a blast right at him. Batman dipped below the bulk of the flame, but his newly designed jetpack had taken a severe hit and his flight pattern started to waver slightly side-to-side. Back to his feet, Firefly too leaped into flight and collided into Batman. At the point of collision, Batman made sure to take out the most dangerous weapon by knocking the flamethrower out of Firefly's hands. The two then exchanged punches back and forth as they flew about the ceiling of the ballroom. The aerial fight was fairly even until Batman landed a perfect punch to the jaw of Firefly's helmet, and he went falling back to the ground. Landing himself back to the floor, Batman walked towards Firefly, who seemed quite weak and exhausted. As Batman drew nearer, he noticed a small trigger grasped in Firefly's hand and he pushed down on the button. A large explosion happened outside the front entrance of Wayne Tower, and created a line of fire blocking anyone from exiting the building.

"As I said Batman, no one's getting out of here without a burn…" said Firefly quietly as fell unconscious.

With the immediate threat of Firefly neutralized, Batman began to formulate his plan for getting all the gala guests safely out of the building – as he had used all his fire extinguishing pellets on the ballroom stage. There were fire extinguishers placed around the ballroom, but due to the immense size of the fire wall outside, they would be minimally effective. There was also the possibility of redirecting the building's fire suppressant system so that it could reach the flames; however, it was clear that Firefly had already tampered with the system as it was not activated to stop the ballroom fire. Running out of options and time, as the flames grew in height and slowly approached the front lobby entrance, Batman had to determine his solution quickly. Seeing out the recently melted ballroom window, he saw that the flames still did not quite reach high enough to block him from flying out the above the flames. He took a running start and hoped his damaged wings could hold on a little while longer, as he successfully leaped up and over the flames just as the flight engines gave out. Rolling out into the slightly snow-covered streets, Batman turned his attention to a nearby fire hydrant. He ran over and reached into his utility belt to pull out his Acetylene Torch, with which he used its laser to remove the side cap of the fire hydrant. Water spewed out of control from the hydrant before Batman tilted his flight wings down and angled them so the water could deflect from them onto the flames leading into the doorway of Wayne Tower. Just as the most lethal part of the flame was being doused, the Gotham City Fire Department pulled up around the corner. The brave men and women of the fire department swiftly exited their vehicles and pitched in to help Batman completely eradicate the flame in a matter of minutes.

Not long after the fire was put out, the Gotham City police showed up to the scene as well. Unlike last night, the crew was led by Detective Harvey Bullock who said that Commissioner Gordon had the night off to spend with his family. Batman filled the detective in on the events that transpired at tonight's gala and hung around to ensure that Firefly had been properly taken into custody. While walking away from the crime scene, he overheard a few of the gala guests in an outrage telling some police officers that their jewelry had been stolen during the chaos. A cop tried to calm them down by telling them that it was likely that they just dropped them while they were fleeing to the exit, but Batman knew the truth – it was just like Selina to take advantage of this kind of situation and steal as much as she could without getting noticed during the mass panic.

After Batman had turned a corner and was out of view, he then grappled to the top of a nearby building. From there, he was able to zip-line back into the open window of the Research and Development wing he had originally leapt out of, without being noticed by the people below. Once back in Wayne Tower, Batman changed back into his civilian clothes to head back downstairs as Bruce Wayne – no doubt, the police will be curious as to where the gala's host had gone off to during the commotion.

Exiting the elevator into the lobby, Bruce was approached by a few officers who (as expected) questioned his whereabouts. To cover his tracks as Batman, Bruce claimed that he panicked and went upstairs to his executive office to hide until the police had arrived to handle the situation. The officers accepted the lie, but made no effort in hiding their disappointment at his "cowardice" behavior as the gala's host. After the officers dismissed him, Bruce met with Alfred by the main lobby doors – the two then returned to the car and made their way back home to Wayne Manor for the evening. Having returned to Wayne Manor, Bruce headed directly for the study as he made himself a drink and sat down at his father's old desk. Sensing that Bruce was feeling troubled, Alfred followed him into the room moments later.

"I must say sir, that after thwarting two major crimes in the last two nights – you do seem quite down on yourself," said Alfred taking a seat across the room in an armchair.

"Tonight, was the 25th anniversary of my father's favorite charity that he worked so had to develop," said Bruce somberly. "This was supposed to be a night to honor my father's legacy and what he had given to Gotham…instead, the night just went up in smoke."

"Yes, the involvement of that wicked arsonist certainly did put a damper on the night's social festivities," said Alfred, "but I wouldn't go so far as to say that the night was a failure."

"Firefly flew in and ended the gala as soon as it started; and the journalists are going to have a field day with the story of how Bruce Wayne abandoned his father's treasured event and its guests to the fate of a dangerous criminal," said Bruce frustrated.

"Sir, I know you're still new to this vigilante act, but you need to see the bigger picture here," began Alfred. "From talking with the police, they told me that no guests were injured with more than a few scratches – incredibly lucky considering the size of the fires. Additionally, I was talking with the event coordinator just before your speech and she informed me that this year's gala set a new record for donations, as many donated prior to their arrival. I can assure you, Master Bruce, that your father would have been proud of you for what you've done – saving many lives and still getting immense donations to help those children at the orphanage."

"Thank you, Alfred – all I ever wanted was to be just like him by helping people and making this city a better place…thank you my friend and merry Christmas," said Bruce warmly as his father's clock struck 12, marking the end of a busy Christmas Eve.


End file.
